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By Sam Drysdale

BOSTON — Forty years after the state added a five-cent deposit on some plastic bottles in order to encourage recycling, climate advocates say it’s “the right moment” to expand state’s bottle redemption law. Proposals before the Committee on...

By MARY BYRNE

Dozens of superintendents, including a handful from Hampshire and Franklin counties, have signed a letter to lawmakers urging them to make permanent the universal meals program School Meals for All, rather than just extend it for another year.“Being a...

By Sam Drysdale and Sophie Hauck

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey moved Wednesday to update the state’s sex education guidelines for the first time in 24 years. The updates are “inclusive, medically accurate and age appropriate,” Healey said at a State House press conference about the...

By Chris Lisinski

BOSTON — The fate of tax relief will now rest with a legislative negotiating committee after the Senate late last week stamped its unanimous approval on a nearly $590 million package. Both branches have voted this session on increasing tax breaks for...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Supporters of allowing terminally ill patients to receive medication to end their lives continue to target Massachusetts as a “priority” state, more than a decade after voters here narrowly rejected a similar policy.A long-running campaign to...

By Chris Lisinski

BOSTON — Lawmakers intend to schedule this year’s mandatory sales tax holiday for the weekend of Aug. 12-13, Senate President Karen Spilka said Monday. With a Thursday deadline to set the dates approaching, Spilka told reporters the Legislature...

By MERCEDES LINGLE

Lawmakers on Beacon Hill heard testimony recently on a bill that would require public higher education institutions to provide menstrual products to students at no cost.“The commonwealth needs to … start treating menstrual products like we do toilet...

By SYDNEY KO

When she was 13 nearly a decade ago, University of Massachusetts graduate student Maggie Buswick was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Her doctors informed her that she needed to receive the “highest level” treatment of radioactive iodine, which is a...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — As Massachusetts moves toward its 2050 deadline to reach net-zero carbon emissions, climate activists had lawmakers’ attention on Wednesday, proposing a new idea to reduce an unlikely source of carbon in the state.A bill sponsored by Rep....

By DOMENIC POLI

BOSTON — At least three Greenfield residents and the state senator representing 25 communities in Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester counties have submitted testimony to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary to express support for a bill that would...

By Chris Lisinski

BOSTON — Top House and Senate Democrats have not publicly mentioned legalizing medical aid in dying as a priority, but one legislative sponsor believes the chances of action are better than ever now that Gov. Maura Healey is in the corner office.Rep....

By Sydney Ko

Following the lead of New York and Maryland, veterinarians in Massachusetts are gathering support to ban procedures that declaw cats.A bill introduced by Sen. Mark Montigny, D-New Bedford, aims to ban the practice, a move veterinarians in...

By Sydney Ko

Brittainy Simpson grew up in the hearing world but was considered an oral deaf, a person who is born deaf or becomes deaf before they learn how to speak. Despite getting by with a hearing aid and lip-reading, Simpson only learned how to sign at age...

By SYDNEY KO

Architects and lawmakers are advocating for a change in the state building code to allow gender-neutral bathrooms in new construction and renovations of buildings, calling it a further affirmation of a gender-inclusive and respectful...

By Chris Lisinski

BOSTON — While a new wrinkle has emerged, House and Senate Democrats appear to be heading for a relatively early session agreement on legislation allocating $200 million for local road and bridge work and another $150 million for...

By Bob Katzen

THE HOUSE AND SENATE: There were no roll calls in the House and Senate for the week of March 13-17. This week, Beacon Hill Roll Call examines the salaries and other benefits received by local state senators. $73,655 BASE SALARY FOR ALL 40 SENATORS...

By Bob Katzen

THE HOUSE AND SENATE: Beacon Hill Roll Call records local senators’ votes on roll calls from the week of March 6-10. There were no roll calls in the House last week.$368 MILLION SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET (S 23): Senate 40-0, approved a $368 million...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

AMHERST — Educational issues pertaining to schools across western Massachusetts, including transportation, rural inequities and a lack of sufficient state aid peppered the discussion of a Joint Ways and Means Committee hearing at the University of...

By Bob Katzen

THE HOUSE AND SENATE: Beacon Hill Roll Call records local representatives’ votes on a roll call from the week of Feb. 27-March 3. There were no roll calls in the Senate last week.$353 MILLION SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET (H 57): House 153-0, approved and...

By Bob Katzen

THE HOUSE AND SENATE: Beacon Hill Roll Call records local representatives’ votes on roll calls from early February sessions. There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week.MORE TIME TO CONSIDER AMENDMENTS (H 2023): House 23-130,...